I agree with your assessment Stradzz, especially with respect to...

I agree with your assessment Stradzz, especially with respect to the smaller industry-specific news sites, or anything reported on social media for that matter.

There is a legion of moto-news sites competing for attention, and with so much competition there is an unfortunate tendency for sites to pump out developing stories as quickly as possible so as to be the first in line, which invariably means that misleading or inaccurate reporting is fairly routine.

For this reason, I have been pondering that Italian news report on the Vmoto Soco Pro Day that was mentioned on this thread earlier in the week, which aired a sales figure of 60,000 units sold for 2022 (which, I presume must be in relation to the 12 month period ending June 2022).

This figure was mentioned in conjunction with Vmoto Soco's Chief Marketing Officer & President of Strategy Graziano Milone, who gave a presentation at the event, and so presumably the figure that was quoted is taken from numbers related by Milone during his talk.

Given the second-hand nature of the figure, I think some circumspection is warranted, especially given that the company hasn't released anything concrete to back up such a figure. With the Russia-driven oil-shock in mind, it would not be a surprise if the financial reports from first half of 2022 turned up a beautiful set of numbers, however, a figure of 60K would reflect an increase in units sold of almost 100% compared to the last released annual figure of 31,275 ('Annual Report to shareholders', 31/03/22).

The company would surely need to be riding more than a high-oil price to hit that order of sales growth over such a short period.

However, while I am a bit chary about that aforementioned figure, I did notice something yesterday that would seem to suggest that there has been some galloping sales growth in at least one important market over recent months.

One Italian website released a report late last night which quoted the registration numbers released by ANCMA, the Italian body that represents Italian manufacturers of two and three wheelers. The heading of the article provides the gist: 'Record sales for electric scooters in the first half of 2022.'

According to the article, in Italy, sales of electric scooters are up 93% in the first six months of the year, as compared to the previous comparable period in 2021. The article also lists the top five selling scooter models in the period:

1. Askoll ES series
2. Vmoto Soco CUX
3. Piaggio 1
4. Lifan E4
5. Niu N series

The fact that there is a Vmoto Soco model sitting in second place might not seem particularly remarkable, considering that Vmoto Soco models have recently been topping the league tables for electric motorcycle registrations in two other large European countries, namley France and the United Kingdom.

However, Italy has by comparison proven something of a laggard for this company, and in past years, Super Soco bikes seem to have struggled to gain traction in this market. Back in 2020, for example, the Super Soco Cux struggled to even made it to the top ten on similar registration lists.

The figures listed below are taken from a report that was published in early 2021. As in the recent report mentioned above, the rankings here were based on figures compiled by the ANCMA.

1. Silence S02
2. Askoll ES1 series
3. Askoll ES3 series
4. Niu NGT
5. Ligier Pulse
6. Askoll Evolution ES3
7. Niu N series
8. Super Soco CUX
9. Piaggio Vespa Elettrica
10. Niu M

It would seem that within the space of two years, the Super Soco CUX has rocketed from 8th place in Italy, up into second place. So, what gives?

I couldn't help but wonder in this might have something to do with the appoinment of the aforemention CMO, Graziano Milone, to Vmoto's senior management, as well as the onboarding of Catiglioni.

To put this notion to the test, I had a quick look at the trend for Italian searchers of the term 'Super Soco' on Google.



While there has been a bump in searches for the term 'Super Soco' in most European countries this year, in Italy, the trend is particularly steep, with searches soaring in March, just prior to the 'Strategic Partnership' announcement of 04/04/22, when the Milone appointment was formalised.

Interestingly, if you look at the motorcycle rankings listed above, you'll notice that the only bike that pipped the CUX to the post were the Askoll models, which performed strongly in Italy in 2020 as well. The significance of this is that Askoll is a locally produced brand, which would seem to suggest that Italians have a tendency for parochialism.

So the appointment of the Italains to management positions in Vmoto seems to have been the ice-breaker in this market, prompting locals to reases the brand, and it would seem, to view it in a more favourable light.

Italy is an important market. Not only is it the third largest country in the EU, motorcycle registrations in the country have also been  growing at a rapid clip over recent years, as one Italian news site reported a couple of months ago:

...Insurance falls, while motorcycles are growing. This is what l’Osservatorio di segugio.it, a leader in insurance comparison, notes. Italy is the country of the European Union which in the period 2015-2021 saw the greatest growth in registrations of two-wheeled vehicles...

If you wish to make a comparison with the main European countries, Italy leads the ranking with a growth rate of 7.9%, followed by France (5.1%), Germany (4.6%), Spain (3.9%) and the United Kingdom (0.2%)....

In summary, while we can reasonably assume that the current global macro backdrop will serve as a powerful tailwind for sales this year, we have to also factor in what seems to be a substantial 'Italian turnaround' into the sales equation.

It remains to be seen whether the sales figure mentioned in that Italian report is accurate. That said, even if we disregard the article entirely, there is evidence besides to suggest that a bumper year for unit sales is on the cards.